Madame de Balbi very friendly to me; all the _beau-monde_ of Paris assembled here. Ld. Elgin[91] is the Minister here; he is _bien fat_, civil like a Scotchman, but on the whole I liked him better than I expected. Poor Ld. H. has a great prejudice against him. A gossiping man, a Mr. Merrick, told me the scandal of London. He says Carlo Dolce is annoyed at the violence of Mrs. Potiphar’s passion for him: she is vehement even in public. [Sidenote: COUNT FERSEN] M. de Fersen, the lover of the unhappy Queen, came to see me. He is tall and stately, and has the pretension in his manner of a favourite: _au reste_, his devoted attachment to the Queen, even more in her prison, makes him interesting. On the 6th of October he disguised himself as a _démocrate_, and cried out with the mob, ‘Vive la nation,’ merely that he might keep close to her carriage and protect her from any personal violence. He planned their flight from Paris to Varennes and rode postillion to the immense berlin; had his advice been followed the whole family would have been safe. I called upon Madame Ferraris; she thought me grown since Vienna. Her husband is with the Duke of York. She says the Duke submits to the advice of his generals very readily, but there are two different stories upon that subject. I dined with Ld. Elgin, etc., and passed my time pleasantly among the French. _Tuesday, 20th._--I rose in the morning fully persuaded that I should sleep at Bruges. Ld. Elgin (who I have grown to like) very good-humouredly did his utmost to facilitate my wish of seeing Valenciennes. He gave us quantities of passports, and very _sullenly_ we set off. Saw A. St. Leger. He came over, as have done many English, Mr. Windham, etc., to see the armies. _21st. Mons._--Passed over the plain where the dreadful battle of Jemappes was fought, which obtained to Dumouriez the full possession of Flanders. The plain is covered with newly made graves; no skeletons, except those of a few horses were stretched about. The whole country covered with waggons and ammunition. The feeding and clothing of a great army requires skill and combination, to the full as much as leading it on to combat. Just out of Quievrain we entered part of _old_ France. The corn was standing, and did not appear to be in the least damaged. About a league from Valenciennes lies the wonderful machinery that destroyed it, a magnificent park of artillery, with immense magazines of balls, etc., guarded by a small party of Austrians encamped. A pretty sight enough.